DOJ just indicted a number of foreign nationals that would "create fake ads on websites like Craigslist and eBay for pricey goods. Apparently the common item would be a car, and interested buyers would be encouraged to pay before delivery. In order to sell the scam, the profiles would claim that they were in the military, and needed to sell the car before being deployed. Images and names had been sourced from real people, and used faked emails from eBay and Aol Autos*, even going so far as to include fake customer service addresses".

There were a number MGA ads over the last couple of years that may have been part of this effort; a TC was one that sticks out. Here are a couple of links for detailed info:

https://www.engadget.com/2019/02/08/doj-ebay-fraud-indictment/

https://www.justice.gov/opa/pr/united-states-and-international-law-enforcement-dismantle-online-organized-crime-ring

I came across a bad one a couple of years ago answering an add in the Auto Trader mag. This guy was apparently selling a very nice red Triumph TR3A, he had all the photos and BHC. He was out of Quebec, but the story was the car was supposed to be on a dock exported from Canada to I believe Holland, where the purchase had fallen through and now you could buy it back with the return shipping.
The thing was, that in the photos I could see the number plate was registered in BC and the tax date sticker showed the photo to be at least 2 years old. From the British Heritage Certificate I had the previous BC owners name who turned out to be a prof. at UBC Victoria, easy to trace. So I phoned this previous owner and he informed me that this was the second time someone had been using his old photos to 'resell' this car. When I asked the fraudster to provide me some up to date photos of the car, I never heard from him again, also never got around to how he was going to take my money.
There is an old saying "if it looks too good to be true, then it is".
Regards,
Paul